After defeating FAB 50 No. 2 Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.) in Friday's semifinals, No. 31 Harvard-Westlake (North Hollywood, Calif.) stamps itself as one of the nation's best teams by downing No. 49 De La Salle (Concord, Calif.) in the Hoophall West championship game, 58-44. Gonzaga takes third place. 

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Attention to detail makes a difference in championship level high school basketball. For the team at Harvard-Westlake (North Hollywood, Calif.), it's the attention to detail on the defensive end that was a key factor in its back-to-back California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Open Division titles. In a similar token, it put forth a pristine defensive effort in knocking off De La Salle (Concord, Calif.), 58-44, in the title game of the Nike Tournament of Champions featuring Hoophall West on Saturday evening in Gilbert, Ariz.

After Duke-bound Nik Khamenia hit a fall-away jumper to give Harvard-Westlake a 35-17 lead with 9.4 seconds to go in the second period, Wolverines' head coach Dave Rebibo quickly called a timeout. Even though his team was playing terrific defense, he wanted to make sure he had the proper defensive alignment for the situation. The result? A De La Salle airball 3-pointer in the closing seconds as the Spartans were held to five made field goals in the first half and no made 3-pointers.

Harvard-Westlake made seven 3-pointers in the first half and continued to connect on good looks in the second half even though De La Salle (14-1) picked up its defensive pressure and made the game interesting in the third period. De La Salle trialed at one point by 20 points (47-27) after a 3-pointer by junior sharpshooter Joe Sterling (9 points) with 2:34 to go in the third period, but the Spartans continued to fight to get back in the game.

The game's key moment came early in the fourth quarter when De La Salle star forward Alec Blair had a step through basket in the key that made the score 48-36 and De La Salle came up with a defensive stop. Blair then drove the key and dished it to the corner for a potential open 3-point look but he was called for his fourth personal foul on an offensive charge after the pass. De La Salle head coach Marcus Schroeder had to remove his two-sport star committed to Oklahoma from the game with 6:59 remaining and from there the outcome was never really in doubt.

Harvard Westlake, which upped its season mark to 18-1, never trailed in the game. When it shoots as well as it did from the outside in this game, the Wolverines are hard to beat. De La Salle made one 3-pointer, by Braddock Kjellesvig that made the score 47-32 with 1:26 remaining in the third period, while the Wolverines made 11-of-22 3-pointers. Shooting at the high school level comes and goes, but there is one thing that Rebibo believes can never be off in order for his team to reach its goals.

"We're a program that is built on our defense," Rebibo told Ballislife. "Our offense can afford to take a night off, but our defense can't. It's a saying but it's the truth. I really like where this team can go."

De La Salle shot 16-of-35 from the field, while making 11-of-14 free throws. Blair, a cinch all-tournament selection, scored a game-high 15 points, including three powerful dunks. The other double-digit scorer was senior forward David Balogun with 12 points.

Khamenia, who hopes to hear his name announced as a 2025 McDonald's All-American later this month, was named tournament MVP and tied with junior guard Amir Jones for a team-high 14 points. Khamenia also had five rebounds and six assists. Jones and Isaiah Carroll (10 points) both hit three 3-pointers a piece and it seemed as if each was a back-breaker for De La Salle.

From here, but Wolverines will jump in Mission League play and won't face the two teams that came in ranked ahead of them in the nation and in the Cal-Hi Sports State Top 25, Roosevelt (Eastvale, Calif.) and St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.), until the CIF Southern Section playoffs in February. The Wolverines still must deal with FAB 50 ranked Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks, Calif.) and always dangerous Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.) in Mission League play.

Where the Wolverines are going right now, after they return home to the San Fernando Valley from the Valley for the Sun, is much higher in next week's updated FAB 50 rankings after their performance at Hoophall West, which included beating three FAB 50 ranked clubs. The ultimate destination, of course, is a third consecutive CIF open state crown.

For De La Salle, it's unlikely to drop out of the FAB 50 and could climb based on its overall showing so far this season.

In the third place game, current FAB 50 No. 2 Gonzaga used a 21-1 run in the third period and a 23-5 third advantage to post a 66-45 victory over Chaminade (St. Louis, Mo.). Xavier-bound point guard Nyk Lewis led the way with 21 points and six rebounds, while North Carolina-bound Derek Dixon added 18 points. Lewis and Dixon shot a combined 16-of-25 from the field.

In another feather in the cap for teams from California, and in particular the loaded CIF Southern Section, is its teams went 8-1 in a six-team round-robin featuring three out-of-state foes. The only setback came on Thursday morning when FAB 50 No. 32 Notre Dame (Sherman Oak, Calif.) fell to Layton Christian (Layton, Utah), 54-53, one game after state No. 1 and FAB 50 No. 9 Roosevelt (Eastvale, Calif.) defeated Coronado (Henderson, Nev.), 77-59.

Notre Dame escaped with its final win and avoided a 1-2 record at the event. Clinging to a 63-62 lead, the Blue Knights' Tyran Stokes went to the free throw line with 7.6 seconds remaining. He missed both, but after the second one he wrestled away the rebound from a Sandra Day O'Connor (Phoenix, Ariz.) player in the key and dunked home the final two points with just over three seconds remaining to account for the final points in Notre Dame's 65-62 victory.

Stokes, arguably the nation's best junior (2026), finished with 34 points on 14-of-19 shooting, 10 rebounds, four assists and four steals for Notre Dame (15-2), which lost to Roosevelt in the final of the Tarkanian Classic and owns a split with Layton Christian.

Ronnie Flores is the national Grassroots editor of Ballislife.com. He can be reached at [email protected]. Don't forget to follow him on Twitter: @RonMFlores